Fort Worth weekly gazette. [volume] (Fort Worth, Tex.) 1882-1891, 1887-12-30
than by the following passage from Sir
Walter Sc9tt's "Memion:"

L
Power laid his rod of rule aside,
| And ceremony doffed his pride
| The heir with roses in his shoes,
| That night might village partner choose.
ALI JAILED, with uncontrolled delight
And general voice, the happy night
| That to the cots ge, as the crown,
Brought tidings of salvation own.
England was merry England when
| Old hristmas brought nis sports again.
| Twas Christmas brewed the mightiest ale,
| Twas Chris mas told the merriest Iale.
| A Christm as gambol Oft would cheer
A poor mans heart through half the year" :
The custom of giving presents on
Christmas, now so universally observed,
is derived from the old Roman Saturnalia
or feast OF Saturn above mentioned, at
which il was customary for all the mem
bers of s household TO offer gifts to each
other, and is not traceable, as has been
sometimes stated, to the New Testament
account of how kings and wise men made
rich offerings to the infant Jesus. For
the Christmas tree we are indebted to the
ancient Germans, who, during the con-
tinuance OF their great feast Of the winter
solstice, already described, hung large
yew trees with rude gifts, decorations
and lights. From them, too, come Santa
( Claus, Kris Krinkle, KNIGHT Rupert and
the many other fabulous personages
charged with the duty of bringing gifts
| to good children, as does also the beauti-
| full fsble that such offerings are brought
directly by the sweet hands of the loving
"Christ child'-the infant Jesus himself.
In the primitive church, Christmas day
was preceded by an Eve or vigil, and
hence our Christmas eve of the present
time, which in the association that clus-
ter around it, in the sports and pastimes,
| its ancient memories and even IN its de-
votions has ever been in all ages second
only to Christmas itself. One beautiful
observance of Christmas eve, having a
| heather origin, is the decorating Of
churches and dwellings with evergreen,
holly, laurel, bays and mistletoe, being q
perpetuat!on OF custom Of the old
British Druids, whose belief 1t was that
kindly sylvan spirits sought these orna-
ments of living green and lowered near
them, untouched and unframed by nip
ping frost, until the death of winter. In
the old church calendar appointed after
the universal adoption Of December %,
as Christmas, the eve Of that day is
marked "templa exomantus," (let the
| temples be adorned.)
To the mistletoe, favorite bough for
| Christmas decoration, there he's attached,
| from time immemorial, Evolutionary
kissing right" that is popularity consid-
cred as inviolable SIS any secured to Eng
Iishmen by Magma Charta. Any male
who, during the Christmas season, can
catch a female under a sprig of mistletoe,
is entitled to kiss which the damsel-be
she maid, wife or WIDOWS in honor
bound to accord him without resistance
or remonstrsnce of any kind.
On Christmas Eve in all parts Of Italy
the people play upon instruments and
sing before the shrines of the Blessed
Virgin Mother with the poetical idea of
chez ing her through the pangs Of mater
nifty. In Great Britain and on the CONT
nent OF Europe the church bells Jing out
their loudest and sweetest, while from q
tradition that the Saviour came into the
world ct midnight, there is celebrated,
punctually ct that hour high mass OF
the grandest, most imposing character
In Spain, Italy and France especially, the
cnurcnes ale maguifcently decorated and
after the midnight mass collation. is
served to those who have spent Christ
mas Eve in this pious work of aGornment.
Ole of the eldest customs of Christmas
Eve and one that is still observed in the
north of England is that Of placing on the
p. incipal fire Of every household great
log Of wood, called the yule-clOg or
Christmas block, where it IS supposed to
illuminate the whole house and in every
part of it TO turn night into day. The
yule- clogs that burned in the vast balls of
he old English feudsl barons of the mid
die sges were huge trees and we are told
that even Just before the last century the
mansion Of an English gentleman, resid-
ing near Shrewsbury, was totally de-
stroyed by fire in consequence Of too
large yule-log having been lighted on
his hearihstone. When the yule-
clog is no. all consumed before dawn,
burns on into the light of Christmas day,
its ashes are carefully preserved until the
next Christmas eve, and are believed to
bring good health and fortune to all the
household, but should they be scattered
q I'd lost, desth and misfortune are sure
10 follow.
The origin of the yule clog is doubtless
to be found in the fact that In the West
ern Or Latin church, Christmas was called
the Feast of Lights, both because many
lights or candles we're used il its cele-
brstion, and because Christ, whose birth
it commemorate, was 10 become the
light Of the world, and as the yule clog
dates far back beyond the use of candles
by many nations who had embraced
Christianity, it was probably used as
primitive suosti ute. The Sax ms called
their pine pal feast Jul or Yul, and hence
came 10 apply the same terms to
The leg which on that erea occasion ard
SUBS, q1enuy when it had been trans
formed into Christmas, gave a. once their
prir cipsl fire and their principal light.
PROBABLY one CT the most generally
known of tie old Christmas observances
neX5 to the giving Of presents is the sing
ing of Christmas carols. These We're
plous centicies designed to replace the
rioald sopgs Of the old heather festivals,
AID the custom Cf Children, and eyea
grown psople, going sbcut from )use
mouse and singing them al the door GA
Christmas eve ard being rewarded with
Christmas cheer AMI Christmas spending
money, is maintained in many parts OF
England at the present day. Many collec-
tons of these quaint medieval carols
were made from Time to time, but of the
oldes Ct such collections but one sheet
remsi0s, and it conLsirs only two. II is
Carefully preserved IN the Bodleian
library at Oxford, as is also
collection Of "Christmasse
Ksliles," published by Wynkin de Worde
in 1881. Later collections OF these old
Christmas hymns of various nations have
been published in our Own century. One
of French carols (noels) wes issued at
Poitiers in 1924, one Of Eoglish at Lor-
don in 1888, and one of German at Graiz
in 1858. l. is remarkable tnet the Welsh